This invention relates to cooking equipment, and more particularly to a portable filter for filtering solid material from a reusable cooking medium.
In the past operators of cooking equipment have had available to them a console which housed side by side fry pots connected through a valve controlled conduit to a drain pan having a filter seive therein for removing the solid materials from the oil and a motor driven pump for returning the cooking oil to the fry pots. A control circuit was included for controlling operation of the fry pot heaters during the filter operation; this circuit included a safety circuit connected in series with the manually operated on/off heater switch. The safety circuit included a normally closed solenoid type switch, but during the filter operation is opened with the opening of the fry pot conduit and remains open until the manual switch is turned off and on again. Those persons desiring further details of this structure are referred to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,195,667; 4,210,123; and 4,324,173.
More recently, a portable fat filter has become available which is for use with small to medium size (65 pounds) fryers. It has two-way action; a nozzle is inserted into the fryer and a switch, located on the portable oil container housing, is first switched to "fill" or gravity drain the cooking oil into a filter from the fryer; and secondly, switched to "return" for filtering and returning the cooking oil to the fryer. An independent heat control keeps the piping open and free flowing when solid shortening is used. The problem with these prior art type devices are, among others, that in the console system the safety circuit being tied into the heater circuit of the fry pots and being operable in connection with the fry pot outlet valve, is a different circuit which is not adaptable for use in a portable system. While the portable system by having an independent heat control, the heater is operable simultaneously with the pumping operations, this creates a fire hazard. As no operation indicator lights are provided, the possibility of improper operation is enhanced. Further, by having the operating switch remotely located with respect to the wand, the attention of the operator is diverted from the wand for switch operation; this creates a potential fire and safety hazard and oil mess, should the wand come out of the fryer during the oil return operation.